The Gentleman‘s Journal Podcast

“There’s a reason why I talk to other people for a living...” — Louis Theroux, documentary filmmaker

Louis Theroux is a documentary filmmaker, journalist, broadcaster, national treasure, and latterly podcast host. Louis joined us on the podcast to talk about the release of his brilliant new documentary Shooting Joe Exotic, in which he revisits the star of last year's Tiger King documentary — but the conversation soon became about so much more: the state of America right now; the trouble with social media; the poignancy of shooting horses; the perils of podcast coziness — and the very art of interviewing itself. 

Louis Theroux: Shooting Joe Exotic is now available on BBC iPlayer

 

"Work is the greatest painkiller known to man" — Marco Pierre White, chef

Marco Pierre White is the legendary chef often described as the enfant terrible of English cuisine, and the youngest cook ever to receive three Michelin stars. Marco’s story has now passed into legend: the childhood on a council estate outside Leeds; the prodigious genius mentored by Albert Roux, Pierre Koffman and Raymond Blanc; the outrageous work ethic and infamous temper; the pre-Raphaelite curls and smouldering brow. But to hear him tell his own story is an unpredictable joy. You don’t so much interview Marco Pierre White as uncork a genie — and so this episode does away with our usual structured conversation format and becomes something else entirely: a rolling meditation on childhood, luck, pain, celebrity, greed, and good food. 

We recorded this episode in one of the living rooms of Marco’s home — a Victorian gothic hotel he is converting near Bath. It kicks off with Marco explaining what walking into a Three Michelin Star restaurant should feel like — and it rolls like a juggernaut from there. Enjoy. 

"You've got to be present in your crisis" — Andy Coulson, strategic advisor

Andy Coulson is a strategic advisor, former Downing Street director of comms, former editor of the News of the World — and onetime resident of HMP Belmarsh. Across the nineties, Andy worked his way up from a local newspaper to take on one of the biggest jobs in the UK media, before jumping over the fence to join the Cameron campaign as DC ascended to Number 10. Then, following the News of the World’s phone hacking scandal, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison — a part of his life that inspired his new podcast: Crisis, What Crisis, in which he talks to a wide array of people who have, as he puts it, been up and down the hill a few times. 

In a fascinating episode, Andy tells us how he dealt with what we might call David Cameron’s Toff Problem; discusses the entrepreneurial lessons he learned in prison; and describes the dangerous symptoms of a condition he calls 'Editoritis'. Enjoy.

You can find a link to Andy's podcast, Crisis, What Crisis?, here.

 

The 'Icarus of bling' and the joke that felled an empire — Gerald Ratner

Gerald Ratner is the former CEO of the Ratners jewellery empire, and a professional corporate speaker. As a young man, Ratner worked his way up the ladder of his family company, eventually turning it into the biggest jewellery chain in the world. And then, at the height of his powers, a single speech changed his fortune forever, and sent his life and his business into a downwards spiral that took some years to recover from. 

His story — and that infamous moment — is now the subject of business degrees the world over, and his name still trends on Twitter several times a year at moments of corporate blunder. This is one of the most interesting episodes we’ve had in a while — a true rollercoaster of a story, with a born entrepreneur whose colourful career has come to be defined by just a few words. With his famously deadpan sense of humour, Ratner talks us through the meteoric rise of the Ratners Group, the morning leading up to that speech, and why, if you want to get something done, it sometimes pays to impersonate a police officer.

The future of tech investment — Jonnie Goodwin OBE and Tommy Stadlen

In a special episode of the podcast, we're joined by Tommy Stadlen and Jonnie Goodwin — two prominent members of the UK’s investment community. Tommy is the co-founder of Giant Ventures, and has had a remarkably varied career — working as an advisor to both Barack Obama and David Miliband, setting up a photography app that was then sold to Microsoft, and even finding time as a teenager to release an ambient music album. 

Jonnie, meanwhile, is the head of Alvarium Merchant Banking. He’s enjoyed a rich and colourful career in television and radio, advising on over 100 very high-profile media deals in his time. He is best known now, perhaps, for setting up Founders Forum — a network for entrepreneurs — with Brent Hoberman. 

This episode is all about tech investing in 2021, and the current climate and outlook for the wider venture capital community. In it, Tommy and Jonnie discuss how purpose is now front and centre in most investment decision; the rise of the Special Acquisition Company; how they stay on top of the sea of noise and nonsense in startup land; and the sort of entrepreneurs that they do and don’t like to invest in. Enjoy.

"It's a marathon AND a sprint" — Will Ahmed, founder of WHOOP

Will Ahmed is the founder of Whoop — the man behind an ingenious wearable strap that tracks your sleep, your recovery, your strain, and all sorts of other clever metrics. Its early fans included LeBron James and Michael Phelps — and its newest fans include most of the VC universe, who have just pushed Whoop to a $ 1.2 billion valuation. (Will, by the way, is still only 30 years old.) 

In this episode, Will tells us where the Whoop name originally came from; how the band became an accidental diagnosis tool for Covid; and the secret that nobody knows to gaining access to the world’s most influential figures.

 

The tinkerer-in-chief — Jamie Siminoff, founder of Ring

My guest on today’s show is Jamie Siminoff, the founder of Ring. Jamie is the start up world’s tinkerer-in-chief — a true inventor who first stumbled upon the idea for a smart, video-enabled doorbell because he wanted to communicate with delivery drivers while he was down in his garage. The journey from that moment — to a famous $1 billion acquisition by Amazon — is fascinating: full of ups and downs, near death experiences, luck and graft and even an appearance on Shark Tank. 

In this episode, Jamie tells us about the moment a random glitch very nearly destroyed everything he’d worked for, why celebrating is not always that helpful, and why you shouldn’t listen to any of his advice (or anyone else’s). 

"Make it better" — Jasper Cuppaidge, founder of Camden Brewery

Jasper Cuppaidge is the founder of Camden Brewery. After missing a flight on a round the world trip, Jasper found himself stranded at the Westbourne Pub in Notting Hill — and soon worked his way up from glass collector to owning his own establishment, via every single rung on the hospitality ladder. Later, he began brewing his own lager — and the rest, as they say, is history. By 2015 , Jasper had sold Camden to AB InBev, the biggest brewer in the world — though it still retains the start up ethos that Jasper instilled in it, all those years ago. In a highly enjoyable episode, Jasper tell us about the power of walking; how he brushed off accusations of selling out; and why a teenage brewing experiment nearly exploded his childhood home. 

"It's not a job. It's more than that." — Sir Martin Sorrell, advertising mogul

Sir Martin Sorrell is the advertising mogul who took a small company called Wire and Plastic Products (they used to make shopping baskets back in the day) and transformed it into the biggest advertising company in the world. After leaving WPP in 2018, he set up S4 Capital — a new, data-driven, obsessively futuristic marketing company for the modern age. It is already worth more than £2 billion, and, in his own words, has left the traditional agencies looking like dinosaurs. In a brilliant episode of the podcast, Sir Martin talks about his role as the third Saatchi brother; about plans for retirement (spoiler — he doesn’t have any); and about how his grandfather cut off a cossack’s arm at the age of 10.

Fortune favours the brave — Tim Warrillow, co-founder of Fever-Tree

Tim Warrillow is the co-founder and CEO of Fever-Tree, the mixer maker extraordinaire. The company was set up in 2003, when Tim and his co-founder Charles Rolls realised there were all this lovely gin sloshing about the place, but a pretty lacklustre selection of tonics. So he trooped off to the Democratic Republic of Congo to find the best ingredients in the world — and just about lived to tell the tale. There were naysayers, of course — there always are. But the product has always spoken for itself. Today, Fever-Tree is the number one tonic in the UK, in the face of some pretty serious competition. 

In this episode, recorded at Fever Tree’s global HQ in West London, Tim told us how an article in a discarded newspaper changed everything; what he thinks of the new hard seltzer trend; and why the phrase ‘pivot’ should be banished from the earth.